Dreams and Dust in the Black Hills: Tourism, Performance, and the American West in National Memory

Elaine Nelson, Assistant Professor, History

THU APR 20, 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Lunch will be provided, please RSVP by Apr 13: RSVP HERE

“Dreams and Dust” reveals new insights about the transformation of the Black Hills, from a land promised to the Lakota Nation to a land of promise for America. This presentation delves into the complex history of the Black Hills and the roles that travel and myth played in America’s invasion and occupation of the region. This history set the stage for an aggressive booster campaign in the nineteenth cen­tury, which resulted in settler expansion into the Black Hills and the creation of a series of U.S. federal-Indian policies, treaties, and land appropriations. The Black Hills tourism industry exploited Indigenous lands and revised history to produce a celebratory narrative of Manifest Destiny, convinc­ing audiences from around the world to visit. Employing the iconic Black Hills gold dust to appeal to American dreams of ex­ceptionalism, these views of U.S. national identity (now carved in stone) remain controversial today.“Dreams and Dust” reveals new insights about the transformation of the Black Hills, from a land promised to the Lakota Nation to a land of promise for America. This presentation delves into the complex history of the Black Hills and the roles that travel and myth played in America’s invasion and occupation of the region. This history set the stage for an aggressive booster campaign in the nineteenth cen­tury, which resulted in settler expansion into the Black Hills and the creation of a series of U.S. federal-Indian policies, treaties, and land appropriations. The Black Hills tourism industry exploited Indigenous lands and revised history to produce a celebratory narrative of Manifest Destiny, convinc­ing audiences from around the world to visit. Employing the iconic Black Hills gold dust to appeal to American dreams of ex­ceptionalism, these views of U.S. national identity (now carved in stone) remain controversial today.